Four more Vaal Dam sluice gates were opened on Thursday afternoon following an increase in the water inflow into the dam, Emfuleni Local Municipality said.

The water levels downstream of Vaal Dam are expected to reach levels last seen during the flood of 1996

“This brings the number of opened gates to 17 since December 16,” spokesperson Klaas Mofomme said in a statement.

He said the municipality would like to warn community members to continue being on high alert for possible flooding.

“However, it must be emphasised that our joint operation committee team, which includes the emergency services and disaster management teams, is on high alert to provide the necessary services should the need arise.”

Mofomme said the outflow into the Vaal River was now standing at 2.7 million litres per second and the water outflow is about 90 times higher than the normal flow.